DRINKING WATER
Case Study: Groundwater DWTP (AK) - DEXSORB Full-Scale
A DWTP client in Alaska detected elevated PFAS contamination levels in two groundwater wells supplying drinking water to 85 service connections. PFAS concentrations are provided in Table 1, where combined concentration of EPA PFAS6 was detected at 490 to 810 ppt.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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Rural North Texas Community Cuts Non-Revenue Water By 42% With Pipeline Leak Detection Technology
Discover how a city solved its non-revenue water challenge by rapidly pinpointing three hard-to-find leaks in 13 miles of aging pipeline using a free-swimming acoustic tool.
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Diatoms — Solving An Identity Issue
Diatoms are single-celled algae found in almost all aquatic habitats. They are very particular about the quality of water in which they live, which makes them incredible indicators of water quality and ecosystem health. Even though diatoms are collected in EPA’s National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS), they are not yet included as a biological indicator in the NARS assessments. The key barrier to their use has been the lack of consistency in the identification of species.
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City Upgrades AMI System For Boost
The city of Yakima was in search of a vendor who could provide a turnkey solution with a quality product line. The selected vendor also needed to have an endpoint that could withstand the extreme conditions experienced inside their meter pits.
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Innovative And Dependable Protection For Your Pipeline Assets In The Most Demanding Environments
The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association and the Corrpro corrosion consulting firm conducted a joint study of zinc coated and V-Bio enhanced polyethylene encased ductile iron pipe buried in the Everglades. I presented the results at NACE’s Eastern Area Conference in Jacksonville, Florida in October of 2019, and a separate report will be part of the NACE 2020 conference digital proceedings later this summer.
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Alaska WTP Takes Control Of Water Quality With UV254
With the ongoing concern about water quality in Alaska, Philip Downing, the Remote Maintenance Worker for South East Alaska Regional Health Consortium, offered a new approach to a plant’s ability to continuously monitor and adjust treatment processes in response to changes in raw water quality.
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Inactivation Of SARS-CoV-2 Virus With Preservation Buffer B
Read the full white paper to learn how testing was performed to confirm that the Preservation B reagent used in LuminUltra® SARS-CoV-2 Environmental Monitoring Kits inactivates the SARS-COV-2 virus to ensure safe handling of samples throughout the assay.
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Remote Monitoring Helps Growers, Water Districts Do Their Jobs
Propeller flow meters have long been an important tool for agricultural irrigation management. As water scarcity and resource management have become increasingly critical, getting the most timely, accurate readings available from those meters is becoming more important than ever. Here is how growers and water conservation districts (WCDs) are each getting the best of both worlds for their own purposes.
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From Zero To 2 Million
Since 1977, Endress+Hauser has produced over two million electromagnetic flowmeters. That is more than any other manufacturer. “This magic number stands for high-quality measuring technology and, above all, satisfied customers in all kinds of industries,” says Bernd-Josef Schäfer, Managing Director of Endress+Hauser Flowtec AG, the center of competence for flow measuring technology.
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Planning For Total Resiliency In Fighting Contaminants Of Emerging Concern
In the constant flow of drinking water and wastewater treatment systems, operators have precious little time to waste. When unexpected changes arise, maintaining balance throughout the process is key.
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Underdrain Designs: Why The Internal Cone Is The Most Economical Choice
A poor underdrain design can cause filtration inefficiencies and inconsistencies, including uneven pressure drops and dead zones where water flows slowly or not at all.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Protection Of Membrane Systems Utilized For Municipal Water12/1/2020
As water scarcity issues around the world become more acute, more municipalities are having to turn to alternative water sources for potable water supplies. Also, many municipalities in coastal areas are seeing the quality of their water sources degrade as sea water intrusion occurs.
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What Is Genclean Advanced Oxidation Disinfection Solution And What Is It Used For?2/18/2021
A non-toxic, advanced oxidation (AOP) formula of minerals chelated with oxygen and stabilized in an aqueous water solution. It is a viable option in industries and applications requiring a solution to challenging situations where high level effective sanitization and oxidation is required. Read more to learn how the Genclean advanced oxidation treatment solutions can be used in different applications.
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Ultrasonic Level Measurement In Water And Wastewater Plants5/19/2016
Radar technology is often viewed as the “best” method of level measurement, but this isn’t necessarily true in the water industry.
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Active Energy Control – Energy Reductions Of Up To 10% Above Standard Drives4/1/2017
Energy costs continue to increase. At the same time, there is increased pressure to reduce utility bills without sacrificing operations or comfort.
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Phosphate In Groundwater And Surface Water: A Rapid And Reliable Determination Method Using The Photometric Spectroquant® Test1/31/2019
Phosphorus is an essential element for organisms and plants. In natural, uncontaminated waters, it occurs as organically bound phosphate, condensed phosphates or as orthophosphate — often referred to by its chemical formula PO4-P. The small quantity of phosphorus present in natural waters does not promote the growth of plants. However, a rise in the concentration of phosphorus results in the proliferation of algae, which leads to the eutrophication of the water body.
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Analyzing Total Organic Carbon In Sea Water4/2/2015
The analysis of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in seawater can be both challenging and expensive. The concentration of organic carbon in seawater is of considerable interest. The effect this matrix can have on TOC analyzers can lead to rapid consumable turnover, costly maintenance and repairs.
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Circuit Board Cleanliness Testing10/29/2021
Contamination of circuit boards can bring about severe degradation of insulation resistance and dielectric strength. Cleanliness of completed circuit boards is, therefore, of vital interest. For those companies who have established circuit board cleaning procedures, the MIL Spec P-28809 has been used as a guideline for control. Now a simple "on line" test for the relative measurement of ionic contamination has been developed.
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Harmonics Reduction Methods4/17/2017
There are several basic methods for reducing harmonic voltage and current distortion from nonlinear distribution loads such as adjustable frequency drives (AFDs). Following is a description of each method, along with each method’s advantages and disadvantages.
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Determination Of Polar Pesticide Residues In Food Of Plant Origin, By And Automate QuPPe Solution9/29/2014
The QuEChERS (Quick-Easy-Cheap-Effective-Rugged-Safe) sample extraction method was developed for the determination of pesticide residues in agricultural commodities.
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Reduced Bore Electromagnetic Flowmeter10/29/2021
Being able to accurately measure both the quantity and rate of water passing through a water distribution system is crucial to gain an informed understanding of overall efficiency. As such, achieving a measurement that is exact as possible can have a significant impact on key areas. This includes supply planning, maintenance, resource deployment, leakage detection and the overall environment.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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The April 1 snowpack measurement has long been the single most important number in western water management, considered a strong proxy for how much water the mountains are holding in reserve. But in 2026, that savings account has been woefully deficient.
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Why Colorado River Negotiations Stalled, And How They Could Resume With The Possibility Of AgreementThe five most common sources of conflict between people are values, data, relationships, interests, and structure. The current Colorado River negotiations include all five.
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Water agencies across the U.S. are facing a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that poses a conundrum: Should they take a cautious or aggressive approach to treating PFAS contamination in their water system?
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The U.S. EPA’s 2026 trichloroethylene (TCE) compliance deadlines are now forcing a concrete shift toward source-zone destruction. In situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), sequenced with enhanced bioremediation, is proving to be the most credible path to groundwater contaminant rebound mitigation.
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Generative design strengthens PR29 investment cases by enabling rigorous optioneering, accurate cost estimates, and clear outcome alignment, helping water companies meet rising regulatory expectations.
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Our infrastructure systems have operated in managed deterioration for decades. And not surprisingly, once they deteriorate badly enough and cross over into active failure, all cost discipline disappears.
ABOUT DRINKING WATER
In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:
- Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
- Drinking water treatment of source water
- Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers
Drinking Water Sources
Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater.
Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.
Drinking Water Treatment
Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.
There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.
The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.
The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.
During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.
Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.
Drinking Water Distribution
Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.
A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.
Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.